Regeneration is eternal. In reality, eternal in experience. Why? Because the reality is a reality of total transformation. Born of God, we cannot continually.
Sin. If you see victory over sin in your life, If you see righteous motives, righteous desires, righteous words, righteous deeds, you're not all you ought to be, but you certainly aren't what you used to be. And you have eternal life. Welcome to Grace to You with the Bible teaching of John MacArthur. I'm your host, Phil Johnson.
The story is told of a man who rather mockingly asked a preacher, How much does sin weigh? adding, I don't feel any weight on me.
Well, that preacher had a blunt reply. Just as a corpse doesn't feel a heavy load, Neither does an unbeliever. The point is this, only Christians have the capacity to feel the weight of sin because only Christians are spiritually alive and sensitive to sin. Today you'll see how being sensitive to sin plays an important part in having assurance of your salvation. We're continuing John MacArthur's helpful study called Myths About Salvation.
And now here's John with today's lesson. Open your Bible, if you will, to 2 Peter chapter 1. And as we are going through this first chapter, we are studying under the general topic: our precious faith. Our precious faith. We have come to the section from verse 5 through 11.
2 Peter 1, 5 through 11. This section deals with the assurance of salvation.
Now he says Having already discussed Matters of salvation and The first four verses. Verse five, he says.
Now, for this very reason also, applying all diligence in your faith, supply moral excellence. In your moral excellence, knowledge. In your knowledge, self-control. In your self-control, perseverance. In your perseverance, godliness.
In your godliness, brotherly kindness. In your brotherly kindness, love. What do you mean?
Well, just all these qualities you need to pursue. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, Two things happen. One. You will not be useless or unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Two.
You will not be blind and short-sighted about your spiritual condition. See, the point is, if you add these things to your life, and these are all matters of holy affections. If you're longing after Moral excellence. Knowledge. Self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, love.
Two things are going to happen. You're going to start to be fruitful. Secondly, you're not going to forget. You're saved.
So, assurance, Peter says, is predicated on holy affections, the pursuit of holiness. And we'll get into that in some detail. Before we do that, I want to take us back to the text we've been looking at in 1 John, because this is John's whole point as well. I want us to go to 1 John. John in his whole first epistle delineates the factors of such a pursuit.
Peter says it involves faith. and knowledge And self-control, and perseverance, and godliness, and brotherly kindness, and love. And you want to know something? John says basically the same thing. Only John says it in much greater detail.
John delineates those same elements that identify. Holy affections. The pursuit of holiness, which is characteristic of the regenerate. Yeah. We already covered the first five.
We asked a series of questions that help us get into the text of John. Question number one: let me just come to you real quick: the first five we covered. How do you know whether you're Pursuing Godliness, how do you know whether you have holy affections? How do you know whether you're longing after God and pursuing His will and His way and what is right? How do you know whether you belong to God?
How do you know whether you're really saved? Question number one: Are you enjoying fellowship with Christ and the Father? That's pretty basic. Remember, in chapter one, he talks about our fellowship. Is with the father, verse 3, and with his son.
Jesus Christ. And then he talks about it in chapter 5, verse 1: whoever loves the father loves the child born of him. And we talked quite a bit about the fact that The first holy affection of a truly regenerate person is a longing after fellowship with God and Christ. Do you have a desire to commune with him, to pray, to know him, to be with him? And be in his presence.
This is the experience of abundant life, rich with joy, peace, love, purpose. And if you are pursuing that, that's a holy affection. If you're enjoying that fellowship, If you are experiencing the God of all comfort, The Goddess supplies all our needs. The God who fellowships with us. and thus dispenses power for our Christian living.
If you're seeking the God of wisdom who holds nothing back but gives liberally to all who ask. If you are pursuing time and fellowship with the God in whose presence you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs and sing and make melody in your heart. If you're coming to the God to whom you cry, Abba. The one to whom you go for mercy and grace in time of need. If you're longing for fellowship with the Christ who is our consolation, who is our strength, who is our hope, whose love shines in us and through us, whose peace we possess and enjoy, these are clear indications that you have a longing for fellowship.
Second question. Are you sensitive to sin? If you have holy affections and are longing after holiness, you're going to be sensitive to sin. In chapter 1, verse 5, John begins to deal with that. He talks about the fact that the true believer walks in the light, confessing his sin.
And that the true believer is forgiven of his sin. And when he does sin, he recognizes chapter 2, an advocate, Jesus Christ the righteous, who is the propitiation, the atonement, the covering for sin. Are you sensitive to sin? we asked. And John asks it.
Or do you deny it? Do you say we have no sin? If you do, you make God a liar. One of the evidences of holy affections is a hatred of sin in my own life, a revulsion. Question number three.
To indicate holy affections, are you obedient to God's word? We saw that, didn't we, in chapter 2, verse 3? And by this we know we have come to know him if we keep his commandments. A holy affection is obedience. I long to do your will.
I want to do your word. I want to do what's right. I want to please you. That's a holy affection. That's evidence of a new nature.
The unredeemed nature. No. It doesn't have any desire to obey God. It doesn't have any sensitivity to sin. And it doesn't long to commune and fellowship with God and Christ.
Those are holy affections that indicate a regenerate heart. Fourth. Do you reject the world? Down in chapter 2, verse 15, we reminded ourselves not to love the world. And then in verse 17 he says, Further than that, the world is passing away and also its lust, but the one who does the will of God abides forever.
We are eternal. The world is passing. We don't love the world. In fact, if we love the world, verse 15 says, the love of the Father is what? It's not in us.
There's another holy affection, a rejection of the world and a longing after the kingdom. Then the fifth question we asked as we noted John's recitation of these matters. is do you love Christ and eagerly wait for his coming? Do you long for his coming? That's another holy affection.
Down in chapter 3 and verse 2. He talks about the fact that we're going to be like him, we're going to see him. Then, in verse 3, he says: whoever has this hope fixed on him purifies himself just as he is pure. Here's another holy affection, a longing after heaven. A longing to be in glory.
A longing for Jesus to come. That's our hope, that's our joy. We wait for his coming. We eagerly wait. That is the blessed hope.
Now Do you have those holy affections? Do you long for fellowship with God and Christ? Are you sensitive to your sin to the point where your own sin repulses you? Do you long to obey God? And his word.
Do you find yourself rejecting the world and longing for the kingdom? And do you eagerly wait for the coming of the one you love? Those are holy affections. And John is saying throughout his epistle: those are the marks of true believers.
Now let's pick up the rest of them. Number six. Do you see a decreasing pattern of sin in your life? Do you see a decreasing pattern of sin in your life? One of the manifestations of holy affections is a decreasing pattern of sin.
Chapter 3, verse 5. Let's turn to it. This is a powerful, powerful section. To be honest with you, we probably won't get past it. But that's all right.
Unbroken patterns of sin are characteristic of the unregenerate. No matter what someone claims, if there is a continual pattern of sin in their life, No different than before they made their claim. then theirs is only a claim and not a reality. When you became a true Christian, and you were transformed. The pattern of sin was broken, and a new pattern came into existence.
A pattern Of obedience, a pattern of righteousness, a pattern of godliness, a pattern of holiness. Holy affections took over. in a believer's life pattern. Pursuing holiness.
Now you say, does that mean there's no sin? Oh, there's sin because the unredeemed flesh is still there. But the more we pursue and the more we move in those religious affections toward things that are right, there will be the decreasing frequency of sin. John makes that very, very clear in verses 5 through 10. It is so clear that it is incontrovertible.
And John shows us, and here's the key point, that Sin. As a life pattern is incompatible with salvation. It is incompatible with salvation. Particularly, it is incompatible with the work of Christ in salvation. To say that a person was saved by the work of Jesus Christ Saved and redeemed, and fit for heaven, and made a new creation.
But the continual pattern of sin goes on unbroken. is to say something about salvation. And it is to say about salvation, it is ineffective. Not so. John then takes us into the work of Christ and he shows us how effective it is.
First of all, his death, verse 5. Look at this. And you know. That he appeared, that is, Christ appeared. In order.
to take away sins. Hmm. He just said in verse 4 that there are people who. practice sin and are practicing lawlessness.
Now he says, he appeared to take away sins.
So to say that someone Had the work of Christ applied to them, But they continue in the same pattern of sin. is to deny the very purpose for which he came. to take away sins. To continue in sin is not consistent with Christ's work. He lifted our sins from us.
Iroh. He lifted away sins. The purpose of his incarnation was to take away our sin.
So that his followers would not go on habitually practicing sin. If we did, his death while having some efficacy in eternity would have been useless in time. But he came to take away his people's sins. How can you say then that a person is saved? But their sins are not taken away.
In fact, they're the same. Can't be done. He came to produce in his children a new pattern of life. with the decreasing frequency of sin. That in his very death.
Then, not only that, but if you look at the work of Christ through our union with Him in verses 6 and 7, you see another element. Verse 6. No one who abides in him sins. Do you mean, John, that we never sin? Obviously, it doesn't mean that.
Sins as a life pattern. No one who sins as a life pattern has seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. The one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as he is righteous.
Now the key word here in verse 6 is abides in him. Not only was his death to take away our sin, But our abiding union with him has broken the habitual sin pattern.
So, both in his death, listen to this, in his death on the cross, and in his ongoing life in the believer. He is taking away sin. Doesn't mean we'll never commit a single sin. He already said in chapter 2: if any man sins, we have an advocate with the Father, but we will not be perpetual sinners in thought, word, and deed. as we were before we were saved.
Righteousness rules us because we reside in the righteous one.
So, how could you come up then with a view that said salvation is eternal in reality, but temporary in experience? You're saved forever, but you might all of a sudden go back to the pattern before you were redeemed and live a completely sinful life. Wait a minute. He died to take away sins. He lives in union with us.
to conquer that pattern and provide a new habitual pattern. of righteousness. The third Note in his argument deals with Satan in verse 8. The one who practices sin is of the devil. For the devil has sinned from the beginning.
The Son of God appeared for this purpose that he might destroy the works of the devil.
Now, get this thought, it's a very simple thought. The devil is a sinner and nothing but. Everybody who's associated with the devil is a sinner and nothing but. Christ died to destroy the works of the devil. The works of the devil are what?
Sin And so in his death, he came to rescue a people who were in bondage to the devil. and thus in bondage to sin. The point is this. Habitual sin signals union with the devil. He came to rescue people from that.
to destroy the devil's power. How can you then say somebody is saved who continues to live a habitual pattern under the control of the devil? Then that's a pretty impotent work by Christ, right? And contrary to his purpose. He came to destroy.
The works of the devil, which are sinful works, and he destroys them in the lives of his people. Salvation was accomplished to destroy Satan's evil works in us. And if it didn't do that, then it didn't do what it was supposed to do, and his work is utterly ineffective and useless. Close the church, forget it all. See, if the purpose of Christ's work on the cross was to remove sin.
And if the purpose of Christ was to unite us with Himself in righteousness, And if the purpose of Christ was to undo the works of the devil, then sin can't be the habitual pattern in the life of a Christian. Or Christ came in vain. Then in verse 9 he adds another argument. Sin is also incompatible with the Holy Spirit. Verse 9.
No one who is born of God, no one. Continually, habitually practices sin. Why? Because his seed abides in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God. By this, the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious.
Anyone who doesn't practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who doesn't love his brother. In verse 9, he says, look, the new birth. There's a seed planted, and we know the agency is the Holy Spirit. We're born of the Spirit. And the Spirit comes and plants that seed, a new nature, a new life principle, a new disposition, the very seed of God, His seed.
That work of the Holy Spirit means a new life form has begun. Our supernatural birth from God's seed brings us into God's life. The Holy Spirit regenerates us with that new seed, and that new seed brings forth a new kind of life. Just as the seed in the ground produces a certain kind of life, the new seed produces a righteous life. It breaks the pattern of habitual sin.
Born of the Spirit of God, we can't continually sin.
So look at it from the viewpoint of Christ's death. Look at it from the viewpoint of Christ's life with us. Look at it from the viewpoint of crushing Satan. Look at it from the viewpoint of the Spirit of God and his regenerating work. And every way you look at it, the pattern of habitual sin is what?
It's broken. It's broken. And so what is John saying? John is simply saying, Do you see the decreasing of the pattern of sin in your life? If you do, that's evidence of a holy affection.
Verse 10 just sums it all up. There's an obvious difference between the children of God and the children of the devil. It's obvious. He uses the word obvious. You practice righteousness.
You're of God. You don't, you're not. But it's simple. Regeneration is eternal. In reality, eternal in experience.
Why? Because the reality is a reality of total transformation. Born of God, we cannot continually. Sin. If you see victory over sin in your life, If you see righteous motives, righteous desires, righteous words, righteous deeds, you're not all you ought to be, but you certainly aren't what you used to be.
Then you have eternal life. Enjoy it. Do you know that the Christian community is loaded with people who have very little or no assurance of their salvation? I don't want to make Christians feel insecure. I want to make false Christians feel insecure.
for their own good. I don't want you to be insecure. I want you to be secure. If you're a true Christian, I want you to be overwhelmed with assurance. And I'm not saying you have to live a perfect life to be sure you're saved.
And I'm not saying if ever you fall into sin, whoops.
Well, you might not be safe. What I'm saying is, if you have holy affections and longings, If you love God and hate sin and long to obey, That's the evidence of regenerate life. Jonathan Edwards was right. He was burdened deeply. Because out of the great awakening, came an expanded church.
And in that expanded church came the realization. That there were all kinds of emotional excesses. And people falling into faints and trances. And claiming Strange and bizarre experiences. people who made momentary professions and confessions.
And there needed to be a careful delineation of what was true and what was false. Not only for the sake Of those who weren't truly saved, that their false assurance could be removed, but for the glory of God, because some people were saying the whole great awakening was a farce. And he wanted to preserve the integrity of the work of God in those glorious years. And so he said we must distinguish between the true and the false. And out of that great heart and mind and knowledge of Scripture came the simple truth.
That where there are holy affections, there is evidence of regenerate life. That is precisely what Peter is saying. And that is why he is saying you must pursue those things. If you are to enjoy assurance, that is precisely what John is saying. You must see the evidence of the pursuit of those things if you are to know you belong.
The Christ. In fact, That is the very reason. Why John even wrote this letter. That's what he had in mind all along. Chapter 5, verse 13.
These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, in order that you may what? Know that you have what? Eternal life. The Lord doesn't want you to lack assurance of your salvation. The Lord doesn't want that.
The first thing you must understand is that your salvation is eternal. The second thing that you have the faith that secures that eternal salvation. and can enjoy that confidence. And John has written these things, not to take away our assurance, to give it to us. And Peter wrote, not to take away our assurance, but to give it to us.
If we're real. If we're not. then these are effective tools. to show us the reality. of our false assurance.
Well, let's bow together in prayer. Father, we thank you that When you Sent your son. You sent him that we might have life. and have it more abundantly. And the part of abundant life.
Is Assurance For how could we possibly enjoy our Christian life? And if we couldn't even be sure we were headed for heaven. And so you just loaded us up. With truth. about assurance.
Father, thank you. That we can have assurance from the very moment of saving faith if that saving faith is real, for there will be holy affections. Holy longings. We thank you for that confidence. You've not sought to take away our assurance.
but to multiply it to us that we might have life. And have it more abundantly. Thank you that the work of Christ in justification. is linked inseparably to the work of the Spirit in sanctification. that even as We first longed for Christ as he prompted our hearts.
We now long for him. as he continues to prompt our heart. Yeah. Father, help us to enjoy the assurance that is ours in Christ. For those who have no assurance because they have no true salvation, save them, Lord, for your glory in Jesus' name.
Amen. You're listening to Grace to You, the Bible teaching ministry of John MacArthur. Our current study is designed to help you diagnose your true spiritual condition. It's titled Myths About Salvation.
Now, going back to what John said today about believers sinning less and less, does that mean with spiritual maturity sin becomes easy to avoid and temptation loses its power? Is that something you can expect as you grow as a Christian? And here's how John answered that question Yeah, well that may be a bit of an overstatement. I I don't think sin is ever easy to avoid. And I I don't think temptation completely loses its power but I do believe with all my heart that sanctification goes on in the life of a true believer.
That is, when you are declared righteous, at the same time you are regenerated, transformed, converted, you have a new nature, and the impulses and longings and desires and affections of that new nature created by God is toward righteousness, toward holiness, toward virtue, toward obedience, toward loving and worshiping and serving God. And as you continue to be sanctified by the Word and the Spirit, as you continue to be sanctified by trials and troubles, which are God's instruments to sanctify you. You sin less and less. But let me add this: yes, as you mature, you sin less. But you feel worse because though you sin less, as you grow in grace and in the knowledge of Christ, you have.
A greater animosity towards sin.
So there's less sin, but you hate it more. And that's the character of a true sanctified believer. You will grow. You will sin less. But your love of righteousness and hatred of sin will also grow, so there'll be a discontent with your own life, even though you are a maturing believer.
Like Paul, you'll say, Oh, wretched man that I am. Indeed, nothing will help you grow in your hatred of sin and in your love for righteousness like understanding the Word of God more and more.
So I would encourage you to take advantage of all the free Bible study tools available at our website, particularly the Sermon Archive. To dive into thousands of free sermons by John MacArthur, go online today. Our website is gty.org, and there you'll find more than 3,600 sermons, all available for free download. You can search them by topic or by specific Bible verse or by books of the Bible, and if you're not sure where to start, Check out what we call Grace Stream. It's always on, and it gives you John's teaching on every verse in the New Testament in sequential order.
We reset it about every two months. Go to our website today, gty.org. And just a reminder that right now we are offering the complete MacArthur New Testament commentary at a remarkable discount. The MacArthur New Testament Commentary Series includes 33 volumes plus A helpful index volume and And the sale runs through tomorrow, Friday, September 12th.
So take advantage of the great price while you can. Place your order by calling us at 855 GRACE. That's 800-55GRACE. or you can order online at gty.org.
Now for the entire Grace TU staff, I'm Phil Johnson. Join us again tomorrow as we continue John MacArthur's series, Myths About Salvation. And you'll see how to test your salvation to make sure it's real. Be here for another half hour of Unleashing God's Truth one Burse at a Time. on Grace to You.
